Somalia has been riven by a bloody civil war, the effects of which are still felt throughout the country. We are working in the stable areas of Somaliland and Puntland state. While the literacy rate is very low at 24%, the strong poetic and literary tradition in the country means that the Somali people value schooling very highly and local communities are making every effort to rebuild their education infrastructure.
We are working in partnership with Africa Educational Trust (AET) in Somaliland. With funds from the UK and Finnish Government, the Africa Educational Trust has been establishing primary and secondary school reading rooms which are providing key access to information in a region where books and libraries are scarce. The local community has been heavily involved in planning and management and users continue to be consulted over what services they would find useful and interesting. Workshops have been held for key literacy and library workers on using traditional short stories and basic readers on HIV/AIDS, human rights, health and the environment. A satellite book box scheme also provides outreach in rural areas.
Somali girls are shy of sitting with boys and dedicated 'girl only' reading sessions have been devised to increase numbers of female users. Africa Educational Trust seek particularly to disseminate good human and civil rights practice, and to raise awareness and promote the need for equal access to primary school education for girls, as well as socially disadvantaged, disabled and war-traumatised children.
We are also working in partnership with AET on a Tsunami reconstruction project in Puntland. Puntland, already devasted by the civil war, and with a largely undocumented population of displaced people, was the region of the eastern coastal area of Africa which was most affected by the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. It is hard to be certain of figures, but there was certainly further displacement of people, likely deaths, and of course, destruction of library services in the area. With funding from Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, we are providing books from the UK and locally produced materials in translation, mainly focused towards younger readers and those who are newly literate.
'The fact that Book Aid International supplies books on a regular basis encouraged us to produce locally printed booklets written in Somali.'
Hassan Ahmed, Manager Africa Educational Trust
We are also supporting other organisations in Somaliland working in health and education including the Edna Adan Maternity and Teaching Hospital and Amoud University which is vital to help support the emergence of graduates from Somaliland.
'It is not an exaggeration to state that your donation of books to this institution - while they may be regarded as a normal gift by someone who is not familiar with our circumstances - is directly contributing to the re-establishment of the culture of peace, the restoration of civil society and the rule of law in this part of Africa.'
Professor Suleiman A. Gulaid, Amoud University President
'Books became available to students who had never seen a library in their lives, or who had never even had books that they could freely consult. The value of books became understood by young people who previously thought that books were boring and of no value to young people.'
Awale Mohamed Muse, Edna Adan Maternity and Teaching Hospital
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